I'll Go No More Waltzing Matilda
by byrhthelm
Summary: Not a pairing!  One shot.  My take on the way Mac ought to have responded to Brumby's pursuit of her in the aftermath of 'People vs Mac'.


**A/N:** I have never been able to get my head around the whole nauseating Mic/Mac saga. I realise it was just another roadblock en route to a Harm/Mac resolution, but to me it always seemed so out of character for Mac. There was plenty of evidence throughout the series that she was not one to forgive and forget readily. For example (and I'm not saying that Harm was always a saint or at his most sensitive in dealing with Mac) her tendency to rake up old scores every time she and Harm had an argument, or her attitude when she prosecuted defendants who crossed her somewhat arbitrary lines of what was and was not permissible – I'm think of women who in her opinion let down other women in the Navy or Marines, (her making up her mind that Loren Singer was guilty of conduct unbecoming before she'd even started investigating the circumstances of the lieutenant's pregnancy as just one instance) anyone with a dependency, be it alcohol, narcotics or even tobacco, and of course her slightly more than vigorous prosecution of anyone remotely connected with naval or marine corps aviation. So for her to forgive and forget Mic's attempt to pin Chris Nagle's murder on her is absolutely incomprehensible and totally out of character.

**A/N:** A confession: I hated the Mic Brumby character for lots of reasons, anyway. Not least of those reasons were his aggressiveness and a propensity for violence that I felt was always simmering just under the surface.

The title is from a line in Eric Bogle's intensely moving ballad, "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda"

**I'll Go No More a-Waltzing Matilda**

**By**

**Byrhthelm**

A J Chegwidden stared at the file open in front of him, unable to decide if he was shocked, horrified, unsurprised or resigned. He took off his reading glasses and laid them to one side before he pinched the bridge of his nose and then ran both hands front to back over his bald scalp.

He took a deep breath and looked up at the officer stood in front of his desk. Rigidly at attention, gaze fixed on a spot about two feet above his head and most definitely with a kick-ass jarhead game face on.

"At ease, Major," A J growled, "And take a seat." He waited until Mac had seated herself, carefully smoothing her skirt under her as she sat.

"Are you quite certain about this, Major?"

"Yes, sir." She had dropped her rigidity and was at last looking him in the face.

"I don't how the RAN view this sort of thing, Major, but if he was one of ours, this would be a career killer."

"Yes sir, I am aware of that, but I'm supposed to care about that, why?"

"Are you sure this isn't just revenge Major?"

"Sir, Lieutenant Commander Brumby's words and deeds during my and Colonel Farrow's court-martial were sufficient to give me a thorough and permanent distaste for the man. However, apart from persuading me that I want nothing to do with him, they have no bearing on the contents of that file. I have on numerous occasions, some of which I have probably forgotten to log, been compelled to remind him that as far as he is concerned the only acceptable form of address to me is 'Major', and that I have never given him permission, or encouraged him to address me as 'Mac', 'Sarah' or," and she made a grimace of disgust "even worse, as 'luv'. Sir, several of those reminders have been issued in front of witnesses, but the lieutenant commander seems impervious to reminders, hints and snubs. He hardly bothered to wait after the court martial before he started to turn his attentions towards me. He was bad enough while Ha… while Commander Rabb was still here, but since Commander Rabb's return to flying duties, Commander Brumby has become even more persistent, and his advances even more unwelcome. He has persisted in asking me out on dates, despite my telling him in no uncertain terms that there is not, and there never will be anything personal between us, other than the fact that he tried to have me convicted of murder and sent to Miramar for twenty-five to life – that I will concede was personal, at least to me. But the act which finally persuaded me to compile that file was his turning up, uninvited, at the door to my apartment to 'take me out to dinner'. Sir, I was… not content… but prepared… to suffer from his unwanted attentions at the office, but now that my home is no longer a safe refuge, I have no other choice than to act formally."

A J regarded his subordinate morosely. If the information contained in the file – a list of times, dates, locations, and particulars of unwelcome advances – was accurate, and he had no grounds for believing otherwise, then the officer, if USN or USMC, who was the subject of the file would be facing an Article 32 hearing for Conduct Unbecoming in that he had committed several acts of sexual harassment, and yes, Major MacKenzie was right, for Brumby to have turned up on her doorstep out of the blue was more than unwelcome, it was threatening. The problem was, Brumby wasn't USN, he was RAN, and under the terms of the Chapeau Defence Agreement, the USN could not take disciplinary action against him The only official action open to the USN was to request the Australian Defence Forces that his attachment to JAG be terminated.

Mac sat, waiting for her CO to respond. It was she silently acknowledged, a pretty thorny problem she had just dumped in his lap, but she'd had enough. She had almost slammed the door in Brumby's face – literally, and for a few frightening seconds had feared that he was going to barge in to her apartment. If he had, she knew she would have resorted to the use of her personal sidearm to hold him there while she called for the Metro Police Department to come and arrest him. She might be trained in the Marine Corps Martial Arts programme, but Brumby was physically far more powerful and outweighed her by about a hundred pounds. A weapon would have been a wise choice.

Chegwidden sighed, "Mac, would you be prepared to leave this with me, for the time being. I don't want to belittle the aggravation you have been forced to undergo, but I don't want to ruin Brumby's career either. Can we see if my counselling of him has any beneficial effect?"

Mac bit her lip, although phrased as a request A J's words were tantamount to a command. She was sick of the whole affair, sick of repeatedly refusing his invitations to dinner, to the movies, to walk in the park, sick of having to keep her office door closed and blinds drawn as a signal that she was not to be disturbed – and even then he hadn't always been persuaded not to impose on her, she was sick of having to wait until Brumby was otherwise engaged before even going to the galley for a coffee, sick of being accosted practically every time she walked across the bull pen, sick of refusing him permission to join her at lunch, sick of having to wait to take a different elevator while he was around – the last thing she wanted was to be compelled to share an enclosed space alone with him, no matter for how brief a time…

"Sir, I really have had enough… I wouldn't have brought this to your notice if I hadn't felt that there was no longer any other way of dealing with the situation – and God knows, sir, I have tried! I spend hours each day trying to avoid any contact with the man, sir, and it's beginning to affect my work!"

A J dropped his eyes back to the file, looking at the date of the first recorded incident and at the date of the last, and at the number of incidents between first and last. Then he considered the officer sitting opposite him, despite her many excellent qualities, she was not particularly well known for being placid and keeping her temper under provocation, and he was surprised that given the provocation documented in the file that she hadn't had a full-blown row with the Australian officer, right in the middle of JAG Ops! But even so…

"Alright, Major. Let me talk to him off the record, this once, and if there are any further incidences, then I will take official action."

Mac eyed him unhappily, "Very good, sir."

"Thank you, Major. You are dismissed!"

Mac stood smartly and came to attention, responding with a crisp "Aye, aye, sir!" before about facing and leaving the office.

A J pinched the bridge of his nose and opened his office drawer in search of his bottle of Aspirin to ward off the headache he felt building somewhere behind his eyes. Bottle there was, but unfortunately for his state of mind it was empty. Sighing, A J pressed the call button on his intercom,"Tiner?"

The disembodied voice of his Yeoman crackled through the speaker, "Sir?"

"Tiner, have you got any more Aspirin out there?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Good. Pass the word for Commander Brumby, please, and then bring on the Aspirin!"

"Aye, aye, sir!"

The Aspirin and Brumby arrived in quick succession, the first almost silently as Tiner placed the bottle on the Admiral's desk and took away the contents of his 'out' tray, the Australian far from silently as he crashed to a halt in front of the desk and barked. "Commander Brumby, reporting as ordered, sir!"

"Commander, there has been a complaint levelled against you by Major MacKenzie, in which she alleges persistent sexual harassment."

Brumby's eyes widened, "Sir?" he said incredulously.

"Commander, I have a fairly comprehensive file, in which she has listed more than thirty incidents where you have paid unwelcome attention to her." Chegwidden waited for the RAN Officer's response.

"I have invited her to accompany me on social occasions, yes, sir!" Brumby replied stiffly.

"Despite, her having told you that she was not interested in any kind of social interaction with you?"

"She's just playing hard to get, I reckon, sir! I can see a definite spark of interest when I talk to her!"

Chegwidden stared at Brumby in total disbelief. The self-assurance of the man – no – the arrogance of the man was simply unbelievable. God, he'd thought Rabb had a massive ego, but this…!

"Commander, are you completely blind or just monumentally stupid?" he demanded.

The Australian's face flushed with anger, "Sir?"

"Do you really consider that a woman, who has repeatedly told you not address her by her first name, her nickname or an… an endearment of any sort, can possibly be interested in you? Let alone a woman who only a few months ago, you tried to have convicted for murder?"

"Sir, that was professional, not personal, sir! The two things have nothing to do with each other!" Brumby protested.

Chegwidden stood, leaning forward and taking his weight on his braced arms. "By God, Brumby you are stupid! Major MacKenzie not taking it personally that you tried to put her in prison for life? Of course she takes it personally, man! Hell_, I_ would take it personally! And what the hell were you thinking, when in spite of her repeated refusals to go on a date with you, you turned up uninvited at her home?""

A J stood upright, as he continued, not really giving Brumby a chance to respond to his latest question, "I don't know how the RAN views this sort of behaviour, but if you were an officer in the US Navy, and Major MacKenzie had submitted this file officially, you would now be facing multiple charges of Conduct Unbecoming an Officer, and in view of your visit to her apartment possible charges for stalking and committing threatening behaviour."

"Sir, I…"

"Not interested, Commander. Just think yourself lucky that I have persuaded Major MacKenzie to let me deal with this in house. Now, a word of advice: power down, leave Major MacKenzie strictly alone, and if you must find a woman, go and find one that at least likes you. Understood?

The still red-faced and furiously angry Australian bit down the retort he had on the tip of his tongue, and contented himself with a stiff, "Understood, sir!"

A J let him stand and hopefully absorb what he had just been told, before he took another deep breath, "Make it so! Dismissed!"

"Aye, aye, sir!"

A J watched the Australian stalk out of the office and sat down again, his elbows propped on his desk and his face buried in his hands. He stayed that way for a couple of minutes, and was just reaching for his Aspirin bottle again when he heard an uproar coming from the direction of the bull pen. Half knowing what he was about to see, he jumped to his feet and with a muttered "Oh fuck!" headed for his outer office, where passing Tiner, he snapped, "Get security up here!"

"Already on it, sir!" Tiner responded, the handset of his telephone at his ear as his finger stabbed the speed dial button for the Marine Security Detachment Office on the first floor.

Brumby had practically stormed out of the admiral's office, only just able to contain his rage until the door had closed behind him. Tiner had watched him go, an expression of surprise on his face. The Aussie officer certainly looked as if he just had an undeserved ass-chewing, yet there had been no sound of the verbal fireworks that a Chegwidden chewing-out generally involved.

Brumby skidded to a halt in the middle of the bull-pen, looking first in the direction of Sarah MacKenzie's office; her door was open but her empty chair gave ample evidence that she was not at her desk. Brumby scanned the bull pen, and then finally spotted Mac, partially shielded from view by Lieutenant Commander Imes and Lieutenant Simms, with whom she appeared to be having an animated conversation.

Brumby stormed across the bull pen, heedless of the impact of a desk corner on his hip, or the protesting "Hey, sir" of a young petty officer he almost man-handled out of his path as he barged past. Thrusting himself between Imes and Simms, but otherwise ignoring them, he glared at Mac, "Hey, I want a bloody word with you! What the hell do you think you're playing at?"

Mac, although she knew she really shouldn't have been, was taken slightly aback by Brumby's actions, and took a couple of seconds to redirect her thoughts from the plans she's been making with the other two officers, but before she could respond, Brumby raged on. "What is it with you bloody Yanks, too bloody sensitive by half! Christ! All I did was ask you out on a couple of dates, and you go running to the bloody admiral, crying sexual harassment!"

Mac had gained the second or two she needed to have gathered her composure and, said icily, "Commander, until you have the ability to address me civilly, I have nothing to say to you. and as there appears to be very little chance that you can act civilly, then there is no need for you to ever to speak to me again, unless on a point of duty!"

Mac gave him a look fully laden with contempt and turned on her heel, "Ladies, we'll talk late…" but before she could finish her sentence, Brumby grabbed her arm in a grip tight enough to make her gasp in pain.

"No you don't, you bitch!" he snarled, "Don't you dare turn your back on me!"

Mac froze. "Commander Brumby, take your hands off me!" she said in a voice that would have frozen alcohol.

The two protagonists stood staring at each other, the one almost speechless with rage and the other, white faced but determined not show the pain the vice-like grip on her arm was causing. After ten seconds, Mac repeated, "Let go of my arm!"

"I'll let you go when we've sorted this bloody nonsense out!" Brumby retorted, now totally unconscious of the spectacle he was providing, and that all work in the bull pen had ceased as its inhabitants stared at the scene unfolding in front of them.

"Commander! Mic!" Carolyn Imes attempted to intervene.

"Butt out, Imes, this is none of your business!" Brumby told her, "Now Major MacKenzie," his tone dripping with sarcasm as for once he used her rank, "We are going to talk!" and without releasing her arm he took a step towards his office, attempting to drag her with him.

Mac's face turned even whiter, "Lieutenant! Call security!" she ordered Harriett Simms.

The word 'Security' seemed to have a magical effect on Brumby, he dropped Mac's arm and took a step back. "Oh shit! Mac… Major… I'm sorry… I didn't mean to… I lost my temper…"

"You are also about to clear your desk Commander!" An icily raging Admiral Chegwidden interrupted. The former SEAL had been about to remove the Australian's grip from Mac's arm personally, having approached unseen by either MacKenzie or Brumby, both of whose attention was firmly fixed on the other.

"Sir, I can explain…" a now white-faced Brumby attempted.

"No Commander, you can't explain!" Chegwidden replied flatly as two Marine Corps staff NCOs and the Security Detachment's duty officer – a Captain - arrived in the bull pen. Chegwidden turned to the Marine Officer, "Captain, escort Commander Brumby while he retrieves his personal belongings from his desk, and then lock him up in one of the holding cells. Understood!"

Without even a flicker of an eyelid the Marine replied smartly, "Aye, aye, sir! Commander…" and then stood back to allow Brumby to go to his office.

Chegwidden glared at the crowd that had gathered, but before he could do more than clear his throat, the onlookers with almost unseemly haste dispersed and the bull pen became a scene of more than just its ordinary bustle. A J turned to Mac in time to see her surreptitiously rubbing her arm. "Are you alright, Major? Do you need medical attention?"

"I'm fine sir!" Mac replied, "I'll probably have a bruise by the morning, but otherwise I'm fine…"

"H'mph! If you do bruise, make sure you get it photographed." He then turned to Imes and Simms, "I gather you two witnessed the entire incident?"

The chorused 'Yes, sir!" elicited a further snort.

"Very well, Major, Commander, return to your office. I'll have Commander Mattoni and Lieutenant Roberts come and take your statements." He considered for a moment, "Lieutenant Simms, I am not unappreciative of the irony, but there seems to be nowhere else free, so once Commander Brumby has been escorted off the floor, you'll sit in his office and wait to have your statement taken, likewise. And ladies," he cautioned all three, "please stay sequestered until your statements have been taken. I'll have Tiner call by shortly and get you some coffee organised."

A J waited until the three female officers had complied with his orders, and then, once again rubbing his scalp with his hand, he headed back to the comfort of his Aspirin bottle, and the prospect of a long involved and distasteful conversation with the RAN Defence Attaché at the Australian Embassy while he explained just why he was terminating Brumby's tenure of the RAN liaison post at JAG HQ.


End file.
